HWS News
9 July 2024 Kaenzig Featured on Under the Sisterhood Podcast
Dean and Director of the Centennial Center Lisa Kaenzig P’22 joins Under the Sisterhood to discuss the personal and professional journey that shapes her work at HWS.
On the Under the Sisterhood podcast, Lisa Kaenzig P’22 discusses her passion for women and girls’ leadership and education, including her longtime role as the Dean of William Smith College and her current work as Chair of the Advisory Council for the Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN).
Kaenzig, who recently began a new role at HWS as the Dean of Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation and the Director of the Centennial Center, reflected on her commitment to community and relationship building with members of the HWS community, especially with students.
Kaenzig relates how much of the focus of her work is on the talent development process of students and also HWS faculty and staff. “I always think about what the student is saying to me, and to see what is interesting to them as students and bringing them joy. I am so lucky I get to meet students every day and talk about how members of our staff and faculty have impacted their lives,” says Kaenzig.
Under the Sisterhood “honor[s] female experiences” through conversations with women of all ages that “get under the hood of their individual journeys through womanhood, with the intention to see and hear one another and hold space for female expression,” according to the podcast.
Listen to the interview with Kaenzig here.
After mentoring students for more than 20 years in the William Smith Dean’s Office, Kaenzig now oversees the Centennial Center’s staff and signature programs. She also has plans to open the Center to more members of the HWS and Geneva community and also ensure the national reputation of the Center’s outstanding programs in leadership and entrepreneurship. She also continues her work as director of the HWS chapter of PLEN, the only national organization with the sole focus of empowering, educating and engaging women and marginalized gender groups in public policy to promote diverse, inclusive leadership in policy making.
Kaenzig has more than 30 years of administrative and academic experience. On the national stage, she is the past Chair of the PLEN Board of Directors. On campus, she founded the HWS First Generation Initiative in 2006, served on the original planning group for the Centennial Center and has worked with the Centennial Center on several initiatives, and advised Hai Timiai, the William Smith senior honor society. She has also served in leadership roles on several HWS initiatives, including the HWS Middle States Accreditation Steering Committee, the President’s Committee on Inclusive Excellence and the Strategic Diversity Plan Committee. She currently works closely with the Office of Admissions and with the Office of Institutional Advancement.
A frequent invited speaker on issues relating to talent development and introverted learners, Kaenzig is the author of “Introversion: The often forgotten factor affecting the gifted,” cited as one of the most influential references in the field. She has appeared on NPR and on the BBC’s podcast “The Why Factor” to discuss her research.
Kaenzig earned her Ph.D. in Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership from William and Mary, her M.A. in Human Resource Development from the George Washington University and her B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University.
Pictured above, Dean and Director of the Centennial Center Lisa Kaenzig P’22 gathers for a photo with leaders of the William Smith chapter of PLEN in front of Hirshson Hall.
